Many of our childhoods, he claims, were marred by Pick-a-Stick because the game invariably ended in a quarrel between players insisting that a stick was or wasn’t moved.

‘Happily, the launch of the game Jenga in 1983 meant that there was no need for anyone to play Pick-a-Stick ever again.

Jenga is a marvellous game, consisting of a tower ­constructed from sturdy rectangular building-blocks. Each player in turn removes one block from below and places it on top; the game continues like this until the tower collapses.

The collapse, when it comes, is dramatic, and even rather beautiful, leaving no room for argument. Furthermore, though Jenga is competitive, the shared process of building a tower higher and higher tends to induce a clubbable, all-in-this-together atmosphere among ­players, so that tiffs and tantrums are avoided.‘